Netflix’s The Crown is set to finish on season 6, so at which timeline of royal drama will the series end? The historical drama The Crown debuted in 2016 as Netflix’s fictional documentation of the inner lives of the royal family during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. The series began with Elizabeth’s ascension to the crown in 1952, and so far has covered all major royal events and drama through the downfall of Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ marriage in 1990.
The Crown was expected to finish with the upcoming 5th season, but (via The Hollywood Reporter) showrunner Peter Morgan revealed it will extend into a 6th and final season. Morgan explained that the additional season will not bring the series any closer to the present day, but will be used to more extensively cover the events leading up to the 21st century. The showrunners have definitively stated they will not include the newest Meghan Markle era; they will be culminating the series much earlier. The show is still set to conclude on the same “grand finale,” so what exactly is this drama-filled event The Crown will depart on?
Season 4 ended in the year 1990 with an understanding that Diana and Charles’ marriage was coming to an end. They haven’t officially separated, so that, along with Diana's tragic death in 1997, will likely come in The Crown's 5th season. Since past seasons covered about 10-to-15 years each, and seasons 5 and 6 combined are supposed to cover the timeframe typical for one season, The Crown can be expected to end around 2005. The major royal events around this time that could serve as a grand finale are the deaths of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles' marriage, and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
One event that could provide a momentous finale for The Crown is the deaths of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in 2002. The Queen Mother had just turned 100 the year before her death, and Princess Margaret sadly passed away at the age of 71 after a series of strokes. Around this time 17-year-old Prince Harry was sent to rehab for one day, which ushered in his rebellious ways after his mother Diana's death and hinted at a less restrictive life for the next royal generation. Ending the series on Margaret and the Queen Mother’s deaths would be a way of documenting the end of an era of royal life while paving way for the crown's changing dynamics in the 21st century.
Another possible event is Charles marrying Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005. Twenty-year-old Prince Harry was also photographed wearing a Nazi costume around this time, which sparked criticism around the globe. This ending would allow The Crown to make a statement on how flawed the royals are, and how both the new and old generations are throwing out the strict binds of the royal creed.
The most probable grand event for The Crown to end its Netflix reign on is the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. The Golden Jubilee took place shortly after Elizabeth’s mother and Princess Margaret's deaths, which drew speculation for disaster. Instead, the event was widely attended with much more public passion for the Queen than expected, being critically regarded as beneficial to both British nationalism and the monarchy. If this is the event The Crown goes out with, it will symbolize an admiration for the past 50 years of leadership by a woman who never truly wanted it. Such a momentous celebration would be a way of saying that even though all of the mistakes, scandals, heartbreak, and betrayals, the crown is a family - a flawed and spoiled family - but one that had to compromise so much of themselves for the sake of their family’s name.